Varieties of Mythic Experience: Essays on Religion, Psyche and Culture

We need a sense of myth for our individual and collective equilibrium. Sanity itself may be tied to having some kind of lively imagination so that one can feel the strange fantasies that continue to insist themselves into consciousness in both waking and dreaming states.... – from the Foreword by Robert Sardello The essential paradox is this: Myth points to a baseline that can never be fully drawn; there exists no lowest layer for myth. – from the Introduction by Glen Slater and Dennis Patrick Slattery ... rituals in fact do not require complementary myths to ’explain’ them, nor is ritual a ’re-enactment’ of myth, but that rituals speak eloquently in their own right. – from Chapter 3, “Rambu Solo’: the Toraja Cult of the Dead and Embodied Imagination,” by Laura Grillo A myth occurs when the objective reality confuses itself with a subjective reality. The myth is, so to speak, a montage, and montages can lie – but they can inspire as well. A myth can support either revolution or the status quo; it can provoke enthusiasm or repression. – from Chapter 7, “How is Psychology a Mythology?” by Ginette Paris

This book presents contributions from different authors covering the mythical basis for different religions. It also shows how psychology and philosopy have been influenced by myths.